Royal Family facing more accusations of racism as n-word found in official documents

TW: Mentions of racial slurs

On 16 July 2023, The Independentrevealed that the n-word had been used ‘more than 40 times’ in a Royal Collection guide.

Those revelations about the Royal Family’s controversial past are not the first to hit The Firm. In 2022, Lady Hussey, ‘resigned and apologised’ after making a guest uncomfortable as she questioned her about her ‘heritage.’ Moreover, the Royal Family has also been directly accused of racism by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during their Oprah interview in 2021. In that interview, they said that an unnamed royal family member had questioned them about the skin tone of their first born Archie.

Now, the Royal Family faces another row about a catalogue mentioning racial slurs.

What is this new racial row about?

On Sunday 16 July, The Independent, revealed that they had discovered racial slurs in official royal documents.

They write:

A catalogue published by the Royal Collection Trust (RCT), showcasing a selection of gems and jewels owned by the Royal Collection, contained more than 40 mentions of offensive racial terms

In their article, The Independent, reveals that the catalogue was published in 2008 and that the document stayed on the Royal Collection Trust’s website until the publication flagged their discovery. Making it so that, only on Thursday 13 July 2023, was the document removed from the website.

In this occurrence, the racial slur is used to ‘describe people of African ancestry.’ The collection also uses the slurs in the names of some of its artifacts .

The Independent shares that one brooch is described using the n-word several times.

Head of a n***o in three-quarter profile to the right, with drop-pearl earring. This type of a n***o’s head is found on several sixteenth-century cameos.

After the revelations were published the RCT said that the documents are ‘under review.’

Read more: Oprah Winfrey drops a bombshell revelation about her interview with the Sussexes

Other royal documents have racial slurs

This new account of racial slurs being found in official royal documents is not the first one.

Indeed, just earlier in July 2023, The Independent revealed that they had found a ‘deeply offensive racist term’ in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) guidance.

According to The Independent, the offensive term had been used since 2010 and was only removed after the publication highlighted the issue. The document referred to Black people as being of the ‘N*****d race.’

The Independent reveals that the document was signed by the DWP and distributed ‘to health professionals employed by Atos.’ Atos is ‘contractor that runs disability benefit assessments on behalf of the government’ and they have now removed the document.

The documents brought to light by The Independent have forced MPs to react.

Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy said:

Whilst it’s not unusual to find such archaic terms in old scientific texts, it’s lazy and racist to find them reproduced in guidance for government departments in 2023.

Patrick Vernon, chair of the Birmingham and Solihull NHS Integrated Care Board said:

This guidance, which appears to be influencing healthcare professionals to this day, is based on racist and colonial tropes around Black people which suggest that people of African heritage are subhuman and should therefore be treated differently from the rest of the population

Atos, is now conducting an investigation while the government said ‘it did not condone the language but admitted it had been used.’

Read more:

⋙ Meghan Markle could soon become one of the highest-paid influencers despite failed Spotify deal

⋙ Queen Elizabeth: This is what she really thought of Meghan Markle, according to source

Sources:

The Independent: Now the royal family is dragged into the n-word race row

The Independent: DWP guidance on benefit assessments forced to be withdrawn over n-word slur

Twitter